Drowning
by FluffySheepLion
Summary: In response to the 'Elemental Harry Challenge.' Harry was sure he was going to die. It had to happen right then, but it didn't. Apprently fate hates him... or loves him. Now he has a manipulative headmaster, new powers, and two tiny companions to join him on his adventures, and those are the least of his worries.
1. Chapter 1

Drowning: A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Duh)

Response to the **Elemental Harry Challenge. **Harry discovers that he can command one or more of the primal elemental forces.

**Rules:** Harry must discover his power in fifth year or earlier.

Harry can be any alignment. _Grey_

Harry's element comes with a familiar for said element.

Someone must already sense Harry's powers.

False Prophecy

Harry's power doesn't come from his horcrux.

**Suggestions:** More than one element _no_

Non-Gryffindor Harry (_2__nd__ year.)_

Sirius FREE and ALIVE _yes_

Smart Harry _yes_

Severitus

Crossovers _maybe_

Slash _no_

Pureblood Harry _no_

Harry's Power unlocking or giving others powers. _Yes_

Good Dursleys _no_

Lily or James alive _no_

Dark elements _yes_

Emancipation _most likely_

**Forbidden:** Harry trusting Dumbles

Horcrux related powers

DE Harry

Dead Sirius

Harry giving up the elements

**Thank you so much, DZ2! I'm so happy to have found this! May more people spread this wonderful idea.**

Chapter 1: How Convenient…

This was how it was going to end. This is what Harry Potter got for listening to his senile headmaster. He was going to die because he tried to save someone else from a _memory_ of his nemesis and he could do nothing about it. He could hear Tom Riddle's laughter echo throughout the chamber. The hiss of the basilisk seemed to be mimicking its master.

Then the pheonix came and Harry knew the old man was trying to kill him. Fawkes probably didn't intend for this, but it was on Dumbledore's head anyway. Fawkes dropped the aged sorting hat on top of Harry before launching itself at the basilisk. The two magical creatures clashed fiercely for several moments before Fawkes went for the face. His talons ripped into the Basilisk's eyes, causing the serpent to thrash violently. It's slender but monstrous body flung around wildly as it tried to shake off the blasted bird… slamming into Harry in the process.

Harry felt as ribs cracked underneath the force of the swing. He easily slid across the soaked chamber floor, falling into the cave waters without a single breath to call upon.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that sounded evil." Harry's eyes widened as a glowing figure floated over to him. "So you're the latest one to fall into my pool. The last one was close to a thousand years ago."

A couple bubbles escaped Harry's mouth. "Come on kid. You're my first company in a while. Stay alive. Actually… drown."

Harry struggled further as gallons of water filled him in entirety. He was choking, dying, and… breathing? The figure smirked as Harry slowly came down from his shock and calmly started floating. Harry felt his ribs start to repair themselves.

"I'm alive? And… underwater?"

"AHAHAHAHA! Sorry. Now get up there."

"How?"

"You'll know. This area obeys you now." And with that the figure slowly faded.

Harry broke the surface as quickly as he could, finding he could still easily breathe above water. Riddle smirked as his nemesis broke the surface. The Dark Lord yelled something in Parseltoungue for the Basilisk to follow. Harry climbed back onto the path as the weakened Basilisk slithered towards him. It seemed… unsure.

Its movements were slow and undecided. It sniffed the boy-who-lived curiously. The figure from before appeared again, this time more visible. It was a humanoid floating spirit, crimson in color, a ghostly tail instead of legs, and a large claw instead of a left hand. It couldn't have been bigger than a three year old and it just floated next to Harry's head. The basilisk turned to it with recognition.

The apparition spoke in a childish tone, "Go back to sleep, Nana." Tom's jaw dropped as the basilisk slid back into the carved head of Salazar Slytherin.

"What are you!? How did you do that!?"

"Tut, tut, tut, little fragment. You expect so much to be given to you. Respect, power, answers. I see my new charge has a piece as well. Why don't I take care of that?"

Tom felt as the spirit picked up his diary with the large claw-hand. His consciousness slipped as the diary was crushed. The spirit then turned back to Harry.

"Sorry kid, but this needs to be done." The giant clawed hand inched forward, pinching at Harry's scar. The boy didn't scream, he didn't have the energy for it. Despite this, something was still screaming. A dark shape was being pulled out of Harry's head and it was yelling bloody murder. The spirit stuffed the shape into a compressed form and Harry blacked out.

-Drowned-

Harry awoke in the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey taking care to treat all of his injuries thoroughly. He felt… better. Not just health wise either. It was like a cloud had lifted off him. He no longer seemed as irritated by everything.

It was also then that he noticed the journal on his chest. Tom Riddle's diary sat there, unchanged save an insignia. It looked like the number 69, with each of the circles in the empty space of the other number and rotated fifteen degrees.

Harry was also curious as to the general inactivity of the journal. There was no pull on his magical core coming from it. The Boy-Who-Lived let his thoughts wander long enough for the Mediwitch to leave the room.

"About time she left." Harry visibly jumped when the voice reached his ears. Floating to his side was the same spirit from before. His wand out of reach, Harry panicked and scuttled backwards causing him to hit his head on the bedpost.

The spirit just looked at him funny, then let out a laugh like a child imitating a sailor. "You're funny, you know that? Definitely more entertaining than Salazar at any rate." Harry's eyes went wide at that comment.

"What are you?" The fear was apparent on his face. The spirit just laughed again, its small mouth and large eyes making it look adorable.

"The name's Cancer. Pleased to meet you again. You fell into my pool." And just like that the events of the night before rushed to the foreground. Riddle, the basilisk, Ginny, Ron, Lockhart, the chamber.

Him drowning.

"I died…"

"No, you swallowed a whole lot of water. There is a difference." Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"Then… what about the others? Ron, and Ginny, and Lockhart."

Cancer pointed over to a nearby bed where Ginny Weasley was sleeping. 'Ron must be in class then.' "The showboat is at the hospital due to brain damage." Cancer informed, actually bringing a smile to Harry's face.

"Nothing less than that git deserved."

"Here here."

Maybe it was the fact that he survived this year, maybe it was just Cancer's antics, but Harry laughed for what might have been the first time that year. Cancer couldn't help but join in, his childish yet hearty giggling filling the wing.

"Shut it, I'm trying to nap," came a new voice, directly from the diary. Harry opened the cover to find an animated picture of a young boy, stretching as if he were laying on a bed. The figure looked a lot like Tom Riddle… if Tom Riddle was a five year old. The tyke rubbed his eyes in irritation. "Too bright, need more sleep. Mmmph." And with that he slumped back onto the page and sunk deeper into the book.

Harry thought it was hilarious. "What did you do to him!?"

"Compressed his soul fragments and locked his memories of Hogwarts and everything afterward," Cancer supplied with a shrug as if it was nothing. "Looks like I have to go for now. Enjoy the rest of the year, Harry. I'll see you around."

Harry rested on the infirmary bed smiling at how things had turned out. Then it hit him.

He never said his name.

-Drowned- The night before

Cancer watched as his new charge fell into unconsciousness in the wet chamber. "Hehehe, what a kid. He deserves his nap." The spirit then turned his attention to the diary he had forged.

Tom Riddle. Now that was an interesting student. It really was amazing how far Salazar's line had fallen; an angry kid throwing a tantrum because of his parents and using his inheritance to kill people. Sad, just sad. The little kid version of him was so much cuter… and pleasant for that matter.

Oh yes, Cancer could remember Salazar quite clearly. The boy was ambitious but fair. He usually didn't let his temper get the better of him and when he did the reason was usually good. Usually he was the tactition of the founders, setting traps for intruders and other such things. Helga was the guardian with the defensive skills, Rowena was the diplomat, and Godrick was the warrior. They embodied some of the best traits of magic and humanity and were generally very civil.

If only he knew what happened that one summer. All it took was a single summer for Salazar to become paranoid and closed off. It was around then that he started spouting off about not letting in the Muggle-born children. He never used any derogatory terms, but his disdain and fear was clear. Not fear for himself, but for something.

It was the last night that Salazar visited that disheartened Cancer the most. Nana was still so small back then. Her full glare could do little more than paralyze a child for a couple hours. Sadly, she wasn't glaring now. She was weeping in Salazar's giant stone head. He had built it specifically for her and it would magically grow with her throughout the years.

Cancer watched on as Salazar prepared the moment. A raised snake statue, a chair, and a rope.

The childish spirit shook himself from his melancholy memories and hid the diary. Nana was sleeping from Cancer's previous orders so he placed the diary in her den and went back to his pool.

It was from the pool that he saw a scene that he dreaded. An old man walked into the chamber with a group of people in suit-robes. Their faces were covered by their hoods, but their badges made them out to be in some position of power.

Cancer watched the old man wave his wand over Harry's head and then pick him up, disappearing in a flash of red light caused by the bird that had dropped in earlier. The hat wasn't picked up until later and even then it was treated roughly. One would think they would treat a millennial artifact with more respect.

Cancer's cheeks went even redder and he followed the old man who took Harry.

Inside a new office, Cancer saw a large round room with several miscellaneous scales and dials spinning through the air. Large portraits lined the walls and a small door in the back led to a secluded bedroom. In the middle of the room was the old man standing over Harry, fuming. A large amount of broken glass littered the floor and the faces in the portraits all looked disappointed.

"Come now, my boy. I will not have you getting defiant on me now!" A flash of light and Harry lurched before falling back on the table he was sprawled across. The old man sneered. "Might as well send him to Poppy."

Cancer gained a sadistic gleam to his usually playful expression. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy playing with you." He giggled into his claw and went back to the chamber.

-Drowned-

In several different areas, beings were stirring from slumber as one of their own called out to them. Eleven different colored lights all beamed towards the same spot, interested in what had awoken their little brother. It had been a millennium after all. Time to find… entertainment.

**Hey guys, this is a challenge I found a while back and I wanted to try my hand. I have to thank DZ2 for this idea but let's see just how far this premise can go. I'll only continue this if you guys want me to so feedback would be great. Drop reviews please. Tell me what you want. Any suggestions you may have for crossovers or who you want to see with powers are welcome. Oh, and pairings. Especially pairings. Until next time, this has been Fluffy. Later.**


	2. Chapter 2

Drowning: A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Duh)

Response to the **Elemental Harry Challenge. **Harry discovers that he can command one or more of the primal elemental forces.

Rules: Harry must discover his power in fifth year or earlier.

Harry can be any alignment. _Grey_

Harry's element comes with a familiar for said element.

Someone must already sense Harry's powers.

False Prophecy

Harry's power doesn't come from his horcrux.

Suggestions: More than one element _no_

Non-Gryffindor Harry (_2__nd__ year.)_

Sirius FREE and ALIVE _yes_

Smart Harry _yes_

Severitus

Crossovers _no_

Slash _no_

Pureblood Harry _no_

Harry's Power unlocking or giving others powers. _Yes_

Good Dursleys _no_

Lily or James alive _no_

Dark elements _yes_

Emancipation _most likely_

Forbidden: Harry trusting Dumbles

Horcrux related powers

DE Harry

Dead Sirius

Harry giving up the elements

**Thank you so much, dz2! I'm so happy to have found this! May more people spread this wonderful idea.**

Chapter 2: New Rules…

The rest of the school year went by in a blur for Harry. The 'Heir of Slytherin' fiasco was dying down and everything seemed brighter for once. Harry was content for once. Even 'Tommy' was feeling it. The small book spirit had been kept secret from everyone and he was fine with just having Harry as a companion. Tommy may as well have been Harry's little brother by now, though it unnerved some of his fellow Lions when he stayed up at night, seemingly talking to himself.

Ron and the rest of the Weasleys were working hard to keep Ginny happy who seemed to have bounced back but with a few screws loose. She was also often talking to herself. The funny thing was, this had started with several students from all of the houses. Including Harry, three students from each house were starting to talk to themselves, but the houses were too embarrassed or prideful to take the matter outside the common rooms. Despite this, it was still quite easy to see just who was being criticized from the seclusion and strange looks those individuals received; or in some cases, stranger looks.

Headmaster Dumbeldore was sitting at his throne at the head of the great hall for what would be the last dinner of the term, fuming at his failed attempts to get the Potter boy back into his grasp. The rebellious child had grown distant since the chamber incident and he had a sneaking suspicion that an outside force was at work. Not only had all of his magical monitoring devices been simultaneously destroyed but all of the charms, curses, and locks he had been put on the boy were gone; replaced with shields the Norwegians or Americans would be proud of.

And on top of this, several of the other students were now acting strange as well.

From Hufflepuff, social butterflies were either looking cautious or just simply left out. Mr. Diggory was constantly looking at his feet, Ms. Bones always had her eyes flicking upwards as if seeing something, and young Mr. Scamander was being left out entirely from his fellow first years. It would have been funny if it was only the puffs, but it was more.

With Ravenclaw there was Ms. Chang, sitting at the end of the table and seemingly holding hands with something, Ms. Lovegood who had an even flightier look than usual, and Mr. Boot who would randomly twitch or hide a chuckle.

With Slytherin there was Mr. Zabini, head down in disappointment, Ms. Greengrass who was trying to hold back some laughter, and even Mr. Malfoy was looking like too many conversations were going on around him even though the only one talking with him was Ms. Parkinson.

Even his favored house, Gryffindor, was having problems. Mr. Potter would be stubborn for now, Ms. Weasley had garnered the concern of the rest of her family, and tiny Mr. Creevey was randomly clicking his camera and getting disappointed when nothing showed up on the photo.

To be frank, something strange was happening at Hogwarts, and the headmaster was powerless to stop it. His grandfatherly mask never broke.

He tapped his silverware to his goblet, gaining the attention of the entire hall. Yes, he still had it.

"Another year as gone and passed in these ancient halls and I am ever proud of each one of you. Though the year has been stressful for most, I hope you all will take it in stride and I look forward to seeing those who will be returning. As for the graduates, you have done a commendable job and I wish you the best for your futures. Hogwarts' halls shall always be open to you." And with that all of the food disappeared from the tables and each table was dismissed to pack.

Albus turned to get up from his seat when an echo of a child laughing passed his ear. Doing a quick double take, he thought he saw a flash of red by Harry, but it disappeared instantly. The headmaster shook his head in disbelief. 'I'm getting too old for this.'

-Drowning- That night

"Well Cancer, are you ready to come home with me?" Harry asked while sitting up in his bed. Cancer just laughed and ruffled the boy's head.

"Yeah Harry, though I cannot take the train with you. Tommy won't get past the wards." Harry just nodded in acceptance at his new clawed friend.

"Okay, but I'll be waiting at King's Cross Station for you." Cancer just let out his hearty yet childish laugh, letting Harry know that Cancer would be there.

Little did they know that eleven other students were having very similar conversations in their own dorms.

**Yes, this chapter is shorter, but it is essentially just a transition to the summer chapters. Thank you everyone who favorited this story and see you guys next chapter. I'll try to put more emphasis on each character during the summer chapters and if you guys have any questions, review! **


	3. Chapter 3

Drowning: A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Duh)

Response to the **Elemental Harry Challenge. **Harry discovers that he can command one or more of the primal elemental forces.

Rules: Harry must discover his power in fifth year or earlier.

Harry can be any alignment. _Grey_

Harry's element comes with a familiar for said element.

Someone must already sense Harry's powers.

False Prophecy

Harry's power doesn't come from his horcrux.

Suggestions: More than one element _no_

Non-Gryffindor Harry (_2__nd__ year.)_

Sirius FREE and ALIVE _yes_

Smart Harry _yes_

Severitus

Crossovers _no_

Slash _no_

Pureblood Harry _no_

Harry's Power unlocking or giving others powers. _Yes_

Good Dursleys _no_

Lily or James alive _no_

Dark elements _yes_

Emancipation _most likely_

Forbidden: Harry trusting Dumbles

Horcrux related powers

DE Harry

Dead Sirius

Harry giving up the elements

**Thank you so much, dz2! I'm so happy to have found this! May more people spread this wonderful idea.**

Chapter 3: Summers

Cedric Diggory was ecstatic. The smile across his face spoke more than any number of words. The countless (broken) wooden targets were the cause of his elation.

"I love this!" The soon-to-be sixth year exclaimed. "I can't miss!" The small yellow spirit floating next to him smirked with its arms crossed. Its equine lower half reared back in approval. "You've progressed well, pupil."

Cedric gave a loud, "YES!" accidentally sending a stunner skyward. A messenger owl fell at his feet with a squawk. Sagittarius – as the yellow spirit preferred to be called – looked unamused at Cedric's short lack of control. It had appeared before Cedric in the prefects bath and had stuck with him ever since.

And Cedric wasn't unhappy. This translucent, bearded centaur thing had popped into his life just weeks before the end of term and improved his skills drastically. Even his flying got better!

"Flipendo!" Another target was cut down and Cedric's breathing became slightly more labored. Sagittarius looked at him like an old professor.

"That is enough, Cedric. Any more and you shall become fatigued. It is time for lunch." The hufflepuff just nodded, his brown hair blowing in the wind. "Sure." Cedric took the message from the stunned owl, walking in to his family home with a slight tremble.

"And if you behave then we can start on your pyro-kinesis afterwards."

-Drowned-

Cho Chang was happy. Virgo was truly a life saver.

The soft spoken, teal spirit took the form of a young woman in a dress, but without any feet or legs. Virgo was The Maiden, so she spent her time just keeping Cho company; listening to any gossip, news, or problems that she had to say. Honestly, Cho was supposed to be doing summer homework but her mind was elsewhere – the clouds.

Cho was seeker for Ravenclaw house and she couldn't afford to let her abilities slip. Her training grounds were fairly standard; an area roughly half the size of the Hogwarts stadium with plenty of open space. The snitch she practiced with was enchanted to never leave the area, which was also how the stadium at Hogwarts worked. The only complication was the practice bludger that zoomed around the area as she attempted to find the snitch.

She circled once, twice, SPOTTED! Speeding off in the direction of the gold blur, Cho only had that accelerating orb on her mind. Twenty feet, ten feet, five feet, BLUDGER!

Fear caused the black haired girl to freeze as the flying hazard flew at her, knocking her off her broom… 80 feet from the ground.

Cho knew she should have been dead from the fall. Instead she just felt a pressure on her head, and some slight pain in her arm. Funny, the ground was solid enough a minute ago. Well that was a minute ago. Spreading from her like a crater, the immediate crash site had turned to sand entirely. A large bruise covered most of her right arm, but there were no other visible injuries. The pressure on her head was Virgo stroking her tenderly.

"Don't worry, milady. You'll be fine." Virgo had always seen herself as a type of maid, and right now it was much appreciated. Cho held her head for fear of concussion.

"Virgo, you saved me?"

"No milady. You saved yourself. I can teach you to control it… if you like."

-Drowned-

Daphne Greengrass was not a morning person. She hated every single morning where she had to wake up earlier than desired and at Hogwarts it was the worst. That being said, she was hoping to be able to sleep comfortably. Nope.

"Get. up." Bump. "Get up." Bump. "Get up." Bump. "Get up." Bump.

"Down, Aries!" –smack!- The tiny brown spirit was launched across the room, hitting his head on the far wall with an audible 'boing' as his hair made contact. He rolled in the air shortly before righting himself and primping his glorious globe of curly hair. The spirit then checked his spiraling ram horns and dusted off his ghostly tail.

"That wasn't very nice, Daphne," he pouted like a small child.

"You know I'm not a morning person!"

"But breakfast is ready…" The soon-to-be third year Slytherin gave him a blank look, bed head going everwhere.

"Please?" She caved.

-Drowned-

Colin Creevey sat in his room that summer, showing his collection to the pink spirit next to him. The boyish spirit floated like a genie, being one of the few that had 'legs.' It wore baggy 'pauper' pants and its legs were crossed as if it was sitting on the ground in Kindergarten. The only other eye catching features were its eyes –two small slits that never opened- and its 'hair.' The darker pink area pulled into a knotted ponytail that ended with a low hanging scorpion's stinger.

Scorpio picked up a random photo. "So who is this?" It was one of Wizarding Britain's moving photos which showed Colin and another student taking a selfie.

"That's Rolf. He was one of the first to welcome me back after the… incident." _That _subject was still touchy. You don't just 'get over' being petrified after all. Scorpio just put down the picture and looked back to the wall. This section in particular had drawn Scorpio's attention as it showed Colin in various activities with his mother, father, and younger brother.

Colin noticed. "Hey Scorpio, what is your family like?" His answer was a short laugh.

"Let's just leave it at 'you can't pick your family. So you want to continue training?" Colin beamed.

"Sure, Mom wanted the car washed anyway."

-Drowned-

When Pisces went to the home of her bound partner, she never expected _this. _

Rolf Scamander was quite possibly the most knowledgeable student in Hogwarts when it came to Magizoology and Care of Magical Creatures. It ran in the Scamander family and he was following faithfully. That being said…

His home was a zoo.

A large pool in the back housed a school of Gryndilow. Stables held griffins, hippogriffs, thestrals even! If you could name a creature then the Scamander clan raised at least one. Among all of the strange and wondrous creatures is was all too easy for the twin fish tailed, navy spirit to hide in plain sight. The hippocampi especially liked her, though they attempted to chew her short styled 'hair.'

"Rolfi, when are we going to start on your training?" she asked while floating in the grindylow pool. Rolf gave her a tired look. "I know you want to teach me how to defend myself, but it takes quite some effort to keep this many creatures properly cared for." The hippogriff he was plucking squawked indignantly.

"No offense of course. You are a beautiful work of nature" Satisfied, the Hippogriff went back to tearing into its bucket of rats.

"This would go so much faster if you would just learn my skills."

"Wouldn't that be cheating?"

"There is no cheating when it comes to labor. Just efficiency."

"Well, yeah, but-" The blue spirit just groaned. You've already realized your specific ability, I just need to teach you my domain, and I'm getting impatient."

"Fine, fine, you win… after I take care of the blast-ended screwts. Then I'll most likely have something to practice on."

-Drowned-

"Breath, just breath."

"Stop talking please."

"Sorry."

Let it be said that Terry Boot enjoyed his previously monotonous lifestyle. It used be reading, work, food, repeat. Now he had this _thing_ to deal with. The white spirit insisted that he meditate, but talked while doing so. HONESTLY!

The spirit looked mainly human, though it had no eyes (just what appeared to be glasses) and always held a ball in each hand. Or maybe the balls were part of its hands? Whatever.

"Libra, why are we doing this?"

"Centering ourselves. Then your abilities will manifest."

"It's that easy?"

"For those I have chosen."

And so he waited, and sat, and waited, and waited, and sat. Terry's closed eyes flew open as he felt a breeze… under him.

He was currently floating a foot off of his floor.

"Libra."

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Yes you are, but this is only the start. Back to meditation."

-Drowned-

It was official, Blaise Zabini had a goat.

That was probably the best way to describe it. The purple spirit in front of him had a human torso and head but goat horns and legs. That being said, he wasn't bad company.

"Okay, Cap: Green or Black?"

"Please tell me you are doing this for your mother."

The Italian boy nodded, constantly shifting between the suit robes he held in his hands. "I have to look presentable, I guess."

"Or you could go somewhere else for the night." Throwing his suits back into his wardrobe, he grabbed a ceramic case from one of the near full shelves. "That is a brilliant idea."

Quickly shuffling down the stairs of his family's estate, he skidded to a halt in front of his family's floo station. (Read fireplace) "Mother, I'll be heading out!"

His only answer was a half-hearted confirmation. Capricorn snorted lightly at his partner's mother. "Come on, now. Quickly."

The spirit popped out of existence as Blaise entered the brick mantel. "Malfoy Manor!" And he was gone in a flash of green.

-Drowned-

Never had Ginny Weasley been happier than right there and then, with thirty square feet of burnt yard in front of her.

"Fine roar, child. But put more throat into it," instructed her teacher, the spirit Leo. It wasn't very often that he met somebody who fit him so well, and he was going to raise her into the finest Lioness in at least this world. The orange spirit stood slightly taller than his spirit siblings, very defined features and 'muscles' and a mane instead of hair.

"Sir!" Thankfully her mother was shopping groceries while her dad was working. Ron and the twins were practicing Quiditch, Percy was doing homework, and Bill and Charlie had left years ago. There was nobody around to scold or question her for her actions.

"Come on, cub. Give me one really good roar." Taking one big breath, Ginny puffed out her chest and let loose.

Her brothers would be hiding from monsters for the rest of the day.

-Drowned-

"MORE!" Susan Bones yelled as the newest weight was put on her stack. Currently she was up to 300 lbs and it was showing, but more like an uncomfortable itch. A black spark was thrown at the anvil she was holding, doubling it in size. Susan simply grit her teeth.

Beside her, a black shape looked on. This spirit was beefier than even Leo, pitch black in color and vaguely humanoid. The thing setting it apart was the bull legs, horns, and the nose ring.

"Come on, Bones! Harder! Push it!"

Spurred on, Susan hefted the anvil into the air, launching it several feet in the air.

"3, 2, 1, now!"

As the anvil came back down, Susan jumped into the air, delivering a quick drop kick and sending the anvil several yards into the distance.

"Good, again."

"Okay, Torus."

Walking over to the hunk of iron, Susan picked it up and lifted again.

"You want to be stronger!?" Down

"YES!" Lift

"To protect your family!?" Down

"YES!" Lift

"To protect yourself!?" Down

"YES!" Lift

"Throw that toy!" With a loud, only slightly annoyed groan Susan threw the anvil overtime, flinging it across the yard and creating a crater on impact.

"Now shape that toy!"

Rushing over to the anvil, Susan held out her hand, feeling the ebony energy filling her palm. Coating it. Before her eyes the anvil started twisting, shaping into something new. She managed to twist the anvil into two rough cubes before her energy gave out. Luckily the crater was soft.

Torus walked over to her and put one large hand on her head.

"Good progress. Time to rest." Smiling at each other, Susan let herself slip into exhaustion. Torus could only laugh at his luck. He would get the hardest worker.

-Drowned-

You know, it took a lot to confuse Gemini. The spirit was a mainly white jester with half a black opera mask and several black checker patterns across its body. He was a walking psych ward and not many thought fondly of him. That being said, Luna Lovegood was odd; even for his standards.

"My father just came back from work. He's still hunting down the evasive Humparump. They are supposed to like hiding in closets like Boggarts, but take the form of the thing you love most."

You see, it was lines like that that stumped him. How do you respond to that!?

"What type of spirit are you? The nargels seem to stay away from you. Maybe it's the hat."

Gemini grabbed his jester top, moderately embarrassed. "This is part of my head, NOT a hat."

Luna just tilted her head.

"I swear, you are the strangest partner I have ever had."

"Thank you."

Oh, he would never hear the end of this.

-Drowned-

"I don't believe I've ever seen you with a less compatible partner."

"I know, right?"

Capricorn was currently chatting with his sibling, Aquarius- a spirit that was humanoid except for everything below his waist being a water bowl- as they watched their partners duel. Blaise jumped back from the dueling table as Draco Malfoy fired a tickling jinx. "Come on, Zabini. Is that the best you have?"

Spitting off the table, Zabini glared. Five jinxes flew from his wand before Malfoy could finish laughing, disarming him, tripping him, locking his body, silencing him, and turning his clothes yellow.

"Wow, you really aren't that good." Malfoy rocked violently on the ground in response. "Don't give me that. You brought this on yourself. You need to learn to stop taunting."

Blaise released the spells and offered Malfoy a hand up which Malfoy took with a smirk. "I _will_ win next time."

"Nah, you don't have the work ethic."

"Watch your tongue, Zabini."

"You can't argue against that though."

The spirits sighed at the antics of their partners. Aquarius' water shifted at the manners of his bound one. So far, Draco had been calling the spirit worse than himself because Aquarius wasn't human. It was better than being outright ignored, but it still hurt. Draco even refused to learn his abilities because of some pompous attitude and childhood 'lessons.'

"This may take a while."

-Drowned-

**Funny thing, I paired up about half of the partners without looking at what the zodiac actually stood for. Despite this, they still work… in a way. Harry will be coming in after this so expect to see more of little Tommy. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter of Drowning, review, and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Drowning: A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I own nothing. (Duh) Well, except my spirits and nobody will take them from me.

Response to the **Elemental Harry Challenge. **Harry discovers that he can command one or more of the primal elemental forces.

Rules: Harry must discover his power in fifth year or earlier.

Harry can be any alignment. _Grey_

Harry's element comes with a familiar for said element.

Someone must already sense Harry's powers.

False Prophecy

Harry's power doesn't come from his horcrux.

Suggestions: More than one element _no_

Non-Gryffindor Harry (_2__nd__ year.)_

Sirius FREE and ALIVE _yes_

Smart Harry _yes_

Severitus

Crossovers _no_

Slash _no_

Pureblood Harry _no_

Harry's Power unlocking or giving others powers. _Yes_

Good Dursleys _no_

Lily or James alive _no_

Dark elements _yes_

Emancipation _most likely_

Forbidden: Harry trusting Dumbles

Horcrux related powers

DE Harry

Dead Sirius

Harry giving up the elements

Chapter 4: The Most Loyal

"Hurry up cousin! I'm hungry!" Harry rolled his eyes as his impatient whale of a cousin, Dudley, wailed for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, yes, because you need more bacon." Cancer chuckled with Tommy in hand. Dudley yelled back, "That's right!" completely missing the sass. The Boy-Who-Hated-His-Moniker had to hold back his groan. Having idiots for family was taxing.

"_Believe me Harry, it never stops being that way._" Harry sighed as his partner gave his two sense. That was something they discovered the first week of summer. Telepathic connection.

Walking over to the table, Harry found his uncle reading the Friday paper before work, sipping coffee. His aunt was glaring at him, scrutinizing his work at every possibility. Finally there was Dudley, still complaining about his bacon. This was his fifth plate.

"Dudley, you may want to cut back a bit," Harry cautioned. Dudley just glared at him and tore into more bacon. His aunt, Petunia, hollered like a banshee. "_I hate it when she does that._"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with my precious little Diddy-dums you free loader!"

"If I had anywhere else to go then I wouldn't be here." More chuckling came from Cancer.

In the meantime, Vernon actually wanted to see how this would turn out. His nephew had grown a backbone in the past couple months and no longer responded to his verbal threats. This new 'Potter' also cleaned the house better than ever, not that he would ever openly admit such a scandalous idea.

"Perhaps Dudley could find a more constructive use of his time." Harry offered. That was another thing that Vernon noticed. The freak _bartered_. "As cute as his baby fat may be to you, think of how much more he could do with a more toned body. He has the build for it."

Vernon gained a pensive look. "Imagine, Dudley Dursley-" Harry gave a quick hand flourish as if pointing out a bill board, "Boxing Champion."

Vernon just hmphed as his wife scolded their nephew. Honestly, it didn't sound too bad. Boxing was a classy sport and quite manly. If Dudders got into that… the possibilities. Again, he hmphed.

"And Vernon, when shall your sister arrive?" Petunia asked her husband. His mustache peeked out from behind the paper. "Another six hours or so, pudding." Petunia looked back at her nephew. "No funny business boy."

"Keep her dog away from me and we will be fine." Harry said quite flatly. That impish bulldog was a menace in every sense of the word. The amount of times he was chased up trees -shiver-. "_Don't worry, buddy. I got the mutt._"

"You have no say in that." Petunia argued.

"All right then." And so Harry left for his room, his spirits following.

Tommy was first to speak up. "So what are we going to do, bro?" That was another quirk which Harry discovered quite quickly. Tommy did actually see Harry as an older brother figure.

"For now we bide our time. Maybe I can make something to appease them."

"Why should you do that?" Cancer asked, obviously amused.

"Good point." 'And now, hurry up and wait.'

-Drowned-

Cancer was right, there was absolutely no point in making them anything. Everything went downhill as soon as Marge entered the house. She was larger than Vernon and Dudley combined and her presence was just as gross. Her 'smalltalk' was nothing but ragging on Harry's parents. Cancer would have drowned the beast in her own soup if Harry didn't inflate her like a balloon and send her out the window. His last words were, "Have fun getting her down." He then gathered his one trunk, his owl, and left the Dursley household with a slammed door.

It still didn't feel like enough.

And so he walked. Walked until his brow sweat and his legs cried. "Harry, you really should take a break. You only have so much stamina."

Deciding not to argue with the ancient spirit, Harry stopped just outside an abandoned playground. The dark area was only slightly chilled as it was still august. Harry quickly took a seat on one of the convoluted metal structure and opened Tommy's book.

"So what do we do now? I think I just got expelled."

"That was accidental magic. They won't scold you for that." Harry breathed out a sigh of relief at Cancer's answer. Tommy puffed his cheeks as he wasn't able to help his bro.

"That puts a large weight off of my shoulders," he replied, attempting to lay down only for his head to collide with a metal pole. The loud clang reverberated throughout the playground. Tommy's laughter didn't help. This loud noise seemed to set something off. A loud bark echoed from under the structure.

Peeking underneath (Cancer looking upside down to get a better look) Harry found a larger than average, sable dog. The coat was intimidating, but it looked happy… for whatever reason. The mutt looked starved and had a broken look to its eyes.

"Awww, are you lost, boy?" The dog yipped and crawled out to look at Harry. Harry couldn't stop himself from petting the thing.

"You're just a big softie, aren't you?"

The dog barked in response, wagging his tail excitedly. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Meeting my godson." Cancer chortled as Harry fell backwards. The 'dog' was now a man in torn striped clothing. He looked thin as a beanpole, had messy, dirty, black, curly hair, and he wore a genuine smile on his face.

"Bloody hell..." Harry said absently.

"Sorry to have to meet you like this. I'm Sirius Black. Nice to see you again, pup." Cancer was still laughing. By now Tommy had joined him.

"H-How did you-"

"The dog thing? I'm an animagus. Hope I didn't scare you too bad." Harry was at a loss for sense, so he obviously didn't mean to be so untactful.

"Aren't you a criminal?" Sirius winced at that.

"Umm, technically. Though they threw me in jail without a trial, bloody idiots." The last part he grumbled to himself. Honestly, could wizards do nothing right?

"Just… great." A random thought forcefully shoved itself into Harry's mind. "Oh, you said that you're my godfather, right?" The animagus nodded.

"Then I could live with you, right?"

"Of course. I am your only guardian that could reasonably take care of you." For every word that he didn't say, Harry could see another flowing through his eyes.

"Then lead the way." Sirius changed back into his dog form and led Harry down a random road. Cancer had other thoughts. '_Never got a trial huh? Didn't Torus say something about his bound?' _And with that he popped out of existence.

-Drowned-

To say the red crap spirit was impressed wouldn't quite be accurate. It took a lot to impress him. That being said, he could credit where it was due and Torus deserved it.

"Up, down, up, down, up, down, faster!" Torus had his arms crossed as Susan continued to do pushups with a single index finger. The high pitched whistle grabbed the Bull's attention.

"Well done, bro. What's next? Launching anvils?"

"Already past that. What did you need?" Straight to the point as always.

"I remember you saying that the aunt of the partner you chose was head of magical law enforcement?"

-Drowned-

Arriving at Number 12 Grimauld Place, Harry was expecting something more. The dark, dusty loft was lacking greatly. Not what he foresaw when thinking of the Black family estate.

"Sorry for the condition of the place Harry, it hasn't been used in a while." Sirius looked genuinely apologetic at this.

"Meh, still better than the cupboard."

"Excuse me?" For once Sirius got a good look at Harry and noticed just how tiny he was. "Cupboard."

"Yeah, aunt Petunia gave me a closet for a room for eleven years."

"Why were you with that bloody banshee?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "You were never meant to go there. Lily specifically said that you were to stay as far from her sister as possible."

-Drowned-

"Aunt Amelia?" The head of the DMLE looked up from her files to see her niece waiting for her attention.

"Something wrong, Susan. I'm working."

"But this is related to your work." And immediately Susan had her aunt's attention. Amelia took her job a bit too seriously and if something came to her niece's attention before hers then someone was royally screwed.

"Yes?"

"Well, there has been this message getting passed around. Something about Sirius Black never getting a trial." Susan saw her Aunt's eyes expand exponentially and knew she had won. "Just something to consider."

Once back in her room, she breathed out a sigh of relief and flashed the spirits o her bed a thumbs up. Torus looked satisfied while Cancer looked like he just won the lottery.

"Thank you, Susan," said Cancer.

"No problem. I just have to ask who gave you that information."

"Why, it was Sirius Black himself." Cancer disappeared with a pop, leaving a flustered Susan and a laughing Torus.

"Of course he would do that," Torus chuckled. "Never change, little bro."

-Drowned-

**Yes, this chapter was very fun to write. By now Harry has learned not to take things at face value (Dumbles) and I do think this is much more believable than -bam! Dog! Bam! Bus! Not quite starting third year, but soon. Yes, I am going to enjoy messing with things. BWAHAHAHA! Ahem, review and I will see you all next chapter.**


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